ME ME - Ayla Reynolds, 20 mnths, Waterville, 17 December 2011 - # 5

[HiHater]

Sorry, haven't followed this in awhile. What would be the motive for EITHER parent to have taken Ayla & be hiding her away?

Custody issues/dispute...

 

[thumbtack]

Custody issues/dispute...

You just jogged my memory. thanx!

 

[ThoughtFox]

We stepped over our gates, especially the ones on the stairs. If that's your routine, then I don't think it would be strange at all to do so in a rush.

If there was a gate at the top of some basement stairs, I don't see how anyone could step over it to go downstairs except someone really tall. I've had lots of baby gates over the years and they are about 3 feet high.

I'm not tall enough to step over a baby gate on a regular basis (my back will get thrown out). ETA: And I don't remember ever stepping over at my house, usually because I was carrying another baby around.

Kids will definitely try to climb over them, though. And if it's the kind that isn't fastened to the wall but just depends on a tension setting, then kids can push them over if you don't get them fixed just right.

This isn't sounding too good, actually. The family blamed the broken arm on a fall "up" the outside stairs, and now we're thinking about a gate at the top of the basement stairs.

Actually, the way this story has leaked out piece by piece, no one has even been sure whether Ayla was upstairs in the attic, on the main floor, or downstairs in the basement. Anytime a child that age is roaming around where there are stairs, something bad could happen.

So I can see why they might have brought in cadaver dogs, too.

The mother said early on that she was in a bed, not a crib. That's a problem - easy to get out of a bed.

 

[ThoughtFox]

Since this case has national attention now, IF either parent has her it will be a lonnggggg time before she resurfaces. The case will have to go cold IMO. It wouldn't be hard to keep a child this young out of site out of mind if a distant relative has her...

I don't really understand this - are you saying that one of the parents would rather that Ayla grew up without either one of them or their extended families for years? That doesn't sound like a very loving idea to me because small children suffer when they are separated from everyone and everything they know.

And why would this hypothetical relative want to raise someone else's child? Eventually she will have to go to school - just three years from now in fact. How is that going to work? Or will they homeschool Ayla as well as keeping her hidden? And when she gets older she can't really be told who she is or she might tell someone, right?

It's sounding more and more like kidnapping, right? :cow:

And it makes me angry because if someone would actually have the gall to let police waste all this time and resources over a custody battle, and hurt both families emotionally as well as the child herself, then someone needs to confess and go to jail right now. :twocents: Because that's the most selfish plan I've ever heard.

And basically, someone else in the family would have to know about this arrangement, it seems to me. So LE should be checking phones for calls to "distant relatives" on a daily basis.

But this sounds much too complicated to be true, and the answer to what happened to Ayla is probably much simpler and closer to home.

 

[Caligram]

Donations for Ayla? For what purpose?

That fund raiser is to help find Ayla, on the lthis ittle light of Maine site which was created to help Justin. The site owner says she knows Justin, his family and friends. She has written on the rabid comments against JD. Calls posters unflattering names like busy-bodies, and an army of gossip vultures. Oh, is it us she refers to as armchair investigators who lack intellectual honesty.

The site owner said that the fund raising on her site is only for Justin to help find Ayla. Stated that if TR wants a fund raiser for Ayla to find an experienced fund raiser for help in starting her own.

IMHO

 

[Indy Anna]

If there was a gate at the top of some basement stairs, I don't see how anyone could step over it to go downstairs except someone really tall. I've had lots of baby gates over the years and they are about 3 feet high.

I'm not tall enough to step over a baby gate on a regular basis (my back will get thrown out). ETA: And I don't remember ever stepping over at my house, usually because I was carrying another baby around.

Kids will definitely try to climb over them, though. And if it's the kind that isn't fastened to the wall but just depends on a tension setting, then kids can push them over if you don't get them fixed just right.

This isn't sounding too good, actually. The family blamed the broken arm on a fall "up" the outside stairs, and now we're thinking about a gate at the top of the basement stairs.

Actually, the way this story has leaked out piece by piece, no one has even been sure whether Ayla was upstairs in the attic, on the main floor, or downstairs in the basement. Anytime a child that age is roaming around where there are stairs, something bad could happen.

So I can see why they might have brought in cadaver dogs, too.

The mother said early on that she was in a bed, not a crib. That's a problem - easy to get out of a bed.

BBM
The gate just doesn't make sense to me. I couldn't understand how ED would be able to step over a gate at the top of the stairs. When I read the version of events on that website, I first pictured Ayla's room upstairs from the main floor. That made even less sense. It does make a lot more sense if Ayla's room is on the main floor and ED went downstairs, where JD allegedly sleeps, to see if Ayla was with him. But, I would think she'd move the gate out of the way before going downstairs. I wonder if this is the version the family gave to LE. If not, LE needs to take a look at the site and, first of all, verify that it's a legitimate site put up by the family. If so, I'd question the validity of the account. It makes me seriously wonder if something happened to Ayla in that house, on the stairs, and the adults are attempting to show that they were careful in making the house safe for the children.

 

[Sparklin]

I'm not understanding the confusion about the gate?

There are two small children who live in that house. JD sleeps in the basement. Grandma and Aunt and baby girls on the main floor. Of course there will be a gate. When ED woke up with her own daughter, she either went to get her a diaper/change of clothes or to see if Ayla was up too. Not finding Ayla in her bed she went to JD's room in the basement, closing the gate so that her daughter wouldn't follow down the stairs possibly. ED was probably not overly freaked out until she found Ayla was NOT with Justin.
It is VERY difficult to climb over any of those gates when they are on stairs - going up the stairs it's a longer way to throw your leg over and going down it's a longer way to land. Either could cause a serious fall.

~* MOO *~

 

[ThoughtFox]

I'm not understanding the confusion about the gate?

There are two small children who live in that house. JD sleeps in the basement. Grandma and Aunt and baby girls on the main floor. Of course there will be a gate. When ED woke up with her own daughter, she either went to get her a diaper/change of clothes or to see if Ayla was up too. Not finding Ayla in her bed she went to JD's room in the basement, closing the gate so that her daughter wouldn't follow down the stairs possibly. ED was probably not overly freaked out until she found Ayla was NOT with Justin.
It is VERY difficult to climb over any of those gates when they are on stairs - going up the stairs it's a longer way to throw your leg over and going down it's a longer way to land. Either could cause a serious fall.

~* MOO *~

No one is confused over the gate, actually.

I just don't believe everyone stepped over a gate that was at the top of a flight of stairs, as some have put forth.

The gate stuff hasn't been reported in the MSM anyway, but let's say hypothetically there was a gate. Just because there was a gate doesn't mean it was left closed after the children were put to bed. In fact, that wouldn't even make sense because adults would want to move around more freely at night, it seems to me.

Therefore there might be a possibility that a toddler could fall down the basement stairs. And there could be a cover-up going on. :cow:

 

[HiHater]

If there was a gate at the top of some basement stairs, I don't see how anyone could step over it to go downstairs except someone really tall. I've had lots of baby gates over the years and they are about 3 feet high.

I'm not tall enough to step over a baby gate on a regular basis (my back will get thrown out). ETA: And I don't remember ever stepping over at my house, usually because I was carrying another baby around.

Kids will definitely try to climb over them, though. And if it's the kind that isn't fastened to the wall but just depends on a tension setting, then kids can push them over if you don't get them fixed just right.

This isn't sounding too good, actually. The family blamed the broken arm on a fall "up" the outside stairs, and now we're thinking about a gate at the top of the basement stairs.

Actually, the way this story has leaked out piece by piece, no one has even been sure whether Ayla was upstairs in the attic, on the main floor, or downstairs in the basement. Anytime a child that age is roaming around where there are stairs, something bad could happen.

So I can see why they might have brought in cadaver dogs, too.

The mother said early on that she was in a bed, not a crib. That's a problem - easy to get out of a bed.

I am only 5'7" and I can step over it with ease, even holding groceries or a kid---it's not impossible, and JD is probably much taller than me so it'd be that much easier for him. ED would not have been in a panic initially, because she didn't know the baby was gone. She could have either moved the gate, or taken her time to carefully step over it. JD however was in a panic, and it would make sense that he broke the gate either trying to move it out of the way or trying to navigate around it too quickly.

 

[ThoughtFox]

BBM
The gate just doesn't make sense to me. I couldn't understand how ED would be able to step over a gate at the top of the stairs. When I read the version of events on that website, I first pictured Ayla's room upstairs from the main floor. That made even less sense. It does make a lot more sense if Ayla's room is on the main floor and ED went downstairs, where JD allegedly sleeps, to see if Ayla was with him. But, I would think she'd move the gate out of the way before going downstairs. I wonder if this is the version the family gave to LE. If not, LE needs to take a look at the site and, first of all, verify that it's a legitimate site put up by the family. If so, I'd question the validity of the account. It makes me seriously wonder if something happened to Ayla in that house, on the stairs, and the adults are attempting to show that they were careful in making the house safe for the children.

Exactly, I totally agree with all of your points.

 

[cluciano63]

The more time that passes, the more likely to me that Ayla was not alive when reported missing and people in the house knew it. And since LE has been unable to clear anyone to date, I really don't see this being a stranger kidnapping, JMOJMOJMOJMO

 

[HiHater]

I don't really understand this - are you saying that one of the parents would rather that Ayla grew up without either one of them or their extended families for years? That doesn't sound like a very loving idea to me because small children suffer when they are separated from everyone and everything they know.

And why would this hypothetical relative want to raise someone else's child? Eventually she will have to go to school - just three years from now in fact. How is that going to work? Or will they homeschool Ayla as well as keeping her hidden? And when she gets older she can't really be told who she is or she might tell someone, right?

It's sounding more and more like kidnapping, right? :cow:

And it makes me angry because if someone would actually have the gall to let police waste all this time and resources over a custody battle, and hurt both families emotionally as well as the child herself, then someone needs to confess and go to jail right now. :twocents: Because that's the most selfish plan I've ever heard.

And basically, someone else in the family would have to know about this arrangement, it seems to me. So LE should be checking phones for calls to "distant relatives" on a daily basis.

But this sounds much too complicated to be true, and the answer to what happened to Ayla is probably much simpler and closer to home.

This is not my theory of the case at all. Someone asked how the families would get out of this mess IF they were hiding Ayla. Those are simply my thoughts on what would have to happen---because the case is too far gone for her to just pop back up.

 

[HiHater]

No one is confused over the gate, actually.

I just don't believe everyone stepped over a gate that was at the top of a flight of stairs, as some have put forth.

The gate stuff hasn't been reported in the MSM anyway, but let's say hypothetically there was a gate. Just because there was a gate doesn't mean it was left closed after the children were put to bed. In fact, that wouldn't even make sense because adults would want to move around more freely at night, it seems to me.

Therefore there might be a possibility that a toddler could fall down the basement stairs. And there could be a cover-up going on. :cow:

I really can't see a fall down stairs killing a child...I also don't understand why time and time again, case after case, people insinuate that seemingly rational/reasonable adults would cover up an accident. It doesn't seem as though JD had anything to hide or lose by calling 911 if she did fall down the stairs. There are docs who specialize in child abuse; they can tell if bones were broken as a result of abuse or just regular play.

 

[hambirg]

BBM
The gate just doesn't make sense to me. I couldn't understand how ED would be able to step over a gate at the top of the stairs. When I read the version of events on that website, I first pictured Ayla's room upstairs from the main floor. That made even less sense. It does make a lot more sense if Ayla's room is on the main floor and ED went downstairs, where JD allegedly sleeps, to see if Ayla was with him. But, I would think she'd move the gate out of the way before going downstairs. I wonder if this is the version the family gave to LE. If not, LE needs to take a look at the site and, first of all, verify that it's a legitimate site put up by the family. If so, I'd question the validity of the account. It makes me seriously wonder if something happened to Ayla in that house, on the stairs, and the adults are attempting to show that they were careful in making the house safe for the children.

The whole thing about the gate. . why is it even mentioned at all???

It's inclusion in that paragraph is really weird. . . so weird that it somehow foreshadows the baby gate's significance to me. :waitasec:

 

[deoneta]

Vinnie is promoing a segment on TR and the LDT coming up on HLN now.

 

[amymarie]

I am only 5'7" and I can step over it with ease, even holding groceries or a kid---it's not impossible, and JD is probably much taller than me so it'd be that much easier for him. ED would not have been in a panic initially, because she didn't know the baby was gone. She could have either moved the gate, or taken her time to carefully step over it. JD however was in a panic, and it would make sense that he broke the gate either trying to move it out of the way or trying to navigate around it too quickly.

I am 5'4" and I step over my gate on my stairs multiple times a day. It's a pain in the butt to open and close so I find it easier to just go over it.

 

[askfornina]

That fund raiser is to help find Ayla, on the lthis ittle light of Maine site which was created to help Justin. The site owner says she knows Justin, his family and friends. She has written on the rabid comments against JD. Calls posters unflattering names like busy-bodies, and an army of gossip vultures. Oh, is it us she refers to as armchair investigators who lack intellectual honesty.

The site owner said that the fund raising on her site is only for Justin to help find Ayla. Stated that if TR wants a fund raiser for Ayla to find an experienced fund raiser for help in starting her own.

IMHO

bbm. where did you see this?

also, just to add to the donation discussion, on the Facebook "This Little Light of Maine", the admin posted a status today with more details about the donations.

http://www.facebook.com/aylalight

 

[Helenstreet]

Regarding the purported baby gate being placed at the top of the basement stairs and being "knocked over" by JD, this is my perspective:

If the gate was indeed knocked over, that would be indicative of a type of gate that would likely be a pressure mounted gate. This type of baby gate is usually not endorsed for use at the top of any starcase due to the obvious safety issues. I believe that there are a few brands on the market now that are pressure mounted gates and safe for top of stairs use, but if JD was able to knock over the gate, I highly doubt if it was one of these. Baby gates used at the top of stairs must be very secure due to the fact that babies--especially toddlers--like to climb; it would be very risky for a child to be climbing on an unsecured baby gate and have it come unsecured. KWIM? I would be very concerned under any and all circumstances if a pressure mounted baby gate was used at the top of any stairs, and especially used on a staircase leading to a concrete basement.

 

[Sparklin]

sbm =

No one is confused over the gate, actually.

really? I guess I'm totally misunderstanding most of these postes :waitasec:

ThoughtFox
Quote:

Originally Posted by Indy Anna
BBM
The gate just doesn't make sense to me. I couldn't understand how ED would be able to step over a gate at the top of the stairs. When I read the version of events on that website, I first pictured Ayla's room upstairs from the main floor. That made even less sense. It does make a lot more sense if Ayla's room is on the main floor and ED went downstairs, where JD allegedly sleeps, to see if Ayla was with him. But, I would think she'd move the gate out of the way before going downstairs. I wonder if this is the version the family gave to LE. If not, LE needs to take a look at the site and, first of all, verify that it's a legitimate site put up by the family. If so, I'd question the validity of the account. It makes me seriously wonder if something happened to Ayla in that house, on the stairs, and the adults are attempting to show that they were careful in making the house safe for the children.

Exactly, I totally agree with all of your points.

 

[Helenstreet]

Regarding the purported baby gate being placed at the top of the basement stairs and being "knocked over" by JD, this is my perspective:

If the gate was indeed knocked over, that would be indicative of a type of gate that would likely be a pressure mounted gate. This type of baby gate is usually not endorsed for use at the top of any starcase due to the obvious safety issues. I believe that there are a few brands on the market now that are pressure mounted gates and safe for top of stairs use, but if JD was able to knock over the gate, I highly doubt if it was one of these. Baby gates used at the top of stairs must be very secure due to the fact that babies--especially toddlers--like to climb; it would be very risky for a child to be climbing on an unsecured baby gate and have it come unsecured. KWIM? I would be very concerned under any and all circumstances if a pressure mounted baby gate was used at the top of any stairs, and especially used on a staircase leading to a concrete basement.

Update: I did some research, and pressure mounted baby gates are never to be used at either the top of stairs or at the bottom of stairs due to the severe risk of either injury or death to a child. Personally, I have always used hardware mounted gates for the top and bottom of staircases, (the kind that you can open and close), although they are more expensive than the pressure mounted baby gates. When you purchase child safety gates from the store, it is even indicated on the box whether they are appropriate for stairways.